Browsing by Subject "corporate philanthropy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Different Drivers: Exploring Employee Involvement in Corporate Philanthropy
    (Springer, 2018) Breeze, Beth; Wiepking, Pamala; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
    Corporate Philanthropy (CP) is multi-dimensional, differs between sectors and involves both individual and organisational decision-making to achieve business and social goals. However, the CP literature characteristically focuses on strategic decisions made by business leaders and ignores the role of employees, especially those in lower status and lower paid positions. To redress this imbalance, we conducted a qualitative study of employees’ involvement in CP processes in ten workplaces in the South East of England to identify whether and how they are involved in CP decision-making and to capture their perspective on the nature of CP and the benefits generated by such activities. We specifically chose to study workplaces where employees are involved in the actual execution of the CP strategy, prioritising companies with a visible presence on the high street. The results illustrate the benefits of involving employees in CP decision-making, which we argue derives in part from the ‘liminal-like states’ that typify CP activities organised by shop floor staff, involving the temporary overturning of hierarchies, humanising of workplaces and opportunities for lower level staff to prioritise their personal philanthropic preferences and signal their charitable identity to colleagues and customers. Whilst the data also suggest that CP decision-making remains predominantly top-down and driven by profit-oriented goals, we conclude that employees should be involved in choosing charitable causes as well as in designing and implementing workplace fundraising, in order to maximise the advantages of CP for the company and for wider society.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Familiarity matters: corporate philanthropy and employee workplace giving and volunteering
    (Bristol UP, 2023-02-27) Heist, H. Daniel; Shaker, Genevieve G.; Christensen, Robert K.; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
    Employees create and enact corporate philanthropy (CP) programmes, which are a central strategy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Employers rely on employees to donate and volunteer through the workplace. From a survey of more than 500 employees at a large corporation based in the United States, we determined that employees’ likelihood of participating in CP is affected by their length of job tenure, managerial responsibilities and work location (on- or off-site). Using structural equation modelling, we found that employee familiarity with the company’s CP programmes mediates the relationship between giving and volunteering with management positions and working on-site. Employee perception also matters. Employees who think highly of CP programmes’ community impact and workplace environment outcomes (CP ‘walk’) are more likely to give and volunteer. Conversely, perceptions of the company ‘standing out’ (CP ‘talk’) in its industry are negatively related to volunteering with the company. Findings contribute to the development of meso-level dynamics in workplace giving.